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Our research projects

At any one time, we have around 120 research projects making discoveries across the UK. Each of these projects is only possible thanks to the generous support of our members, donors and local groups

Every project is reviewed by experts and approved by our research committee and our panel of people living with diabetes. So you're supporting research of the highest scientific quality, led by researchers with the skills and experience to succeed.

Your support of our research projects means we can keep tackling the complications of diabetes and bring us one step closer to a cure.

Find a research project

Use the search tool to discover research taking place in your local area, or choose a subject or type of diabetes you’re interested in.

Each project page showcases the details of the research, and if you find a research project you could really get behind, you can support it in lots of different ways.

Blood vessels are lined with endothelial cells, which have a protective coating. This coating can become damaged in diabetes, leading to the development of complications like stroke, heart attack and kidney disease. Dr Satchell will study the coating in more detail to see if it can be used as a treatment to protect blood vessels in people with diabetes.

Dr Emma Vincent wants to understand why people with Type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop certain types of cancer than people without Type 2. She will be investigating changes inside the body that may encourage these cancers to develop. Dr Vincent hopes that by understanding these processes, we will be able to find ways to protect people with Type 2 from developing certain cancers in the future.

Many people with diabetes develop kidney damage. We know that a protein called VEGF plays an important role in causing this damage. But another form of VEGF protects against kidney damage. Dr Sebastian Oltean wants to find new treatments that help people with diabetes to make more protective VEGF, to slow or prevent kidney damage.

Professor Coward will purchase a combined transmitted light and fluorescent microscope and an imaging computer, which will help his team to study kidney cells and drive forward their understanding of diabetic kidney disease and the development of new therapies.